When Aaron Curry left Fayetteville, N.C., to play football at Wake Forest, he weighed 195 pounds. Now he’s a 6-2, 254-pound outside linebacker who is rated as one of the two best prospects in the draft.
On Saturday, Curry isn’t expected to last past the Kansas City Chiefs, who have the third pick in the first round.
“It’s been amazing,” Curry said. “It’s been an uphill climb, a battle I was willing to take on.
“Coming out of high school, I was lightly recruited – East Carolina, Wake Forest, Division I AA and Division 2 schools (were interested). Everybody began to have doubt whether I could fulfill my dream of playing in the NFL.”
On Saturday, Curry’s dream will come true. The first thing he’ll do after he becomes a multimillionaire is to buy his mother a house. She brought up her three sons without the help of Curry’s father — former NFL safety Reggie Pinkney.
At one point, the family was evicted from its house.
“Now she can have any house she wants,” he said.
Butkus a fan
Curry, who can play outside in a 4-3 or a 3-4, won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker last season. Hall of Fame middle linebacker Dick Butkus was so impressed with Curry that he went to Wake Forest to deliver it in person.
“That feeling is hard to describe,” Curry said. “To play at Wake Forest and even be mentioned with the Butkus Award winners is amazing.
“The day I saw Mr. Butkus at the campus was amazing. It was a day like no other. He seemed so excited to meet me. He was like, ‘I saw this guy on film, and he was making all these great plays, but I wanted to see what kind of person he was.’
“He told me I was just a great person overall. He was glad the committee gave the trophy not just to a great linebacker but to a great person.”
One of the many examples that show what kind of person Curry is can be found in one of his guests at the draft in New York. Bryson Merriweather, 12, a leukemia patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will attend the draft as Curry’s guest.
Curry, who earned a degree in sociology, considered law school but has other post-career plans mapped out.
Coaching aspirations“I realized that coaching college football was what I wanted to do,” he said. “When I’m done playing football, I want to help young men in a pivotal point of their lives and help them get through school and be successful players and people.”
Some people say Curry sounds too good to be true. He’s considered as the safest pick in the draft, which he considers a compliment.
“I believe a safe pick means I can come in instantly and make an impact on anybody’s defense,” he said. “And my versatility as a linebacker, well, you just can’t go wrong.”
Curry takes a lot of pride in being the kind of player he is.
“I want them to know that my personality and my character are contagious,” he said about the team that drafts him. “ Whether it’s the weight room or the field, people know that Aaron Curry’s serious. He’s working hard, and he’s not going to stop until the whistle blows.
“You’re going to have to drag Aaron Curry out of the weight room and the film room. You’re going to have to drag him off the field. You’re going to tell him to chill out with some of the charities because he’s got practice.
“That’s just the type of person I am. I have dreams. Now my dreams are coming true.”
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